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King Raven
Background/Structure The King Raven is an all-around air transport vehicle. It resembles a "cross between a Kamov Ka-29 Helix and a Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk" Unusually, this helicopter has no tail rotor. Instead it has two counter-rotating six bladed centrally mounted rotors, similar to the Russian Ka-29. The Raven's armor plating is only somewhat dense, but can take a beating from small arms fire. However, the Raven's armor cannot take an explosive attack and can be instantly destroyed by oncoming Nemacyst, as seen in several cutscenes. The Raven has no doors, and can cause severe nausea for some of the passengers. A star example is Cole when he commented that he pukes every time he sets foot in one. The King Raven seems to may have thin cockpit windows but the pilots probably use video cameras to relay the outside view into the cockpit, where it is displayed on computer screens. Function Ravens are used to insert and extract Gears during combat. The Raven can carry up to 12 Gears along with a pilot. Besides being a transportation asset, they are also used as air support to provide suppressing fire for soldiers on the ground. Armaments The standard Raven contains a frontal armament as well as side armaments. They are all machine gun style weapons, firing multiple rounds at enemies. More specifically, the Raven has two side-mounted Chain Guns for point defense as well as the guns in the front for oncoming attacks. The front gun is seen used in Act 4 when the Raven carrying Delta Team fired on a barrage of attacking Nemacyst. The side guns are seen used in Pale Horse to provide covering fire against the Reavers while Marcus and Dom confront General RAAM. A UV turret is also used against the kryll surrounding General RAAM during Pale Horse but is used only briefly in the cutscene. Variants The King Raven Gunship is a specialized Raven variant designed for close air support. It differs from the standard King Raven in several ways - not the least of which is that it scraps its passenger-carrying capacity and door-mounted chainguns, and instead devotes the extra weight freed up to additional ammo capacity and two wing stubs that accommodate extra weapon hardpoints. The King Raven Gunship has, in addition to its nose-mounted chainguns and a UV-Filter-equipped searchlight, a pair of rocket pods and a series of laser-guided missiles designed for use against tanks and slower-flying aircraft, such as Reavers, as well as two more Chainguns mounted in gunpods. The King Raven Gunship also sports thicker armor and a larger fuel tank (which also sports heavier armor). Many King Raven Gunships were employed in the assault on Landown, though the Locust resistance cost the COG several of them. The Sea Raven was the COG's naval version of the King Raven. It could hold one Marlin attack boat and was used in The battle of Aspho Fields. Appearances Gears of War The King Raven will appear in the game several time in Act 1, at the beginning of Act 4, and at the end of Act 5. There are several in the chapter 14 Years After E-Day, one in Trial By Fire, and one destroyed in the ending cinematic of Wrath. There is also a Raven inserting Delta Squad into one of the courtyards of East Barricade Academy at the beginning of Act 4. The other Raven in Act 4 is seen later when the chapter Campus Grinder is completed. The final Raven is ridden by Baird, Cole, and Hoffman in the Act 5 chapter, Pale Horse during the RAAM boss fight. They are there to provide covering fire against the numerous Reavers flying near the head of the Tyro Pillar while Dom and Marcus were confronting RAAM. Gears of War 2 They are seen in great numbers in Gears of War 2. They can be seen almost all throughout the first chapter, defending the hospital. A massive fleet of Ravens is seen during Chairman Prescott's speech, transporting Gears to an assembly area. They are seen immediately afterwards, escorting the Derrick, and attempting to defend it from Nemacyst artillery and Brumak ambushes. They are able to kill the Seeders responsible for the artillery fire. Ravens later provide Close Air Support for Gear squads while securing Landown. Ravens are sparsely seen between Act 1 and Act 5, appearing only three times. One Raven, KR-54, is downed in the Ilima sinkhole, and is used as bait by the Locust to ambush Delta Squad. Another Raven is called into the sinkhole to pick up Delta, but is sent out of control and devoured by the Riftworm. A final Raven - the Transport Variant - is seen at the end of Act 2 dropping a Centaur Tank for Delta Squad. Ravens appear very heavily in Act 5, where they are the primary means of evacuating Jacinto. A Raven is seen carrying a Lightmass Bomb slung under its belly at the end of Act 5. The specialized King Raven Gunships can be seen defending Jacinto in Act 1 and Act 5. Trivia *A stationary Raven helicopter is seen on a heli-pad in the multiplayer map, Rooftops, Jacinto, and another one is seen on a Heli-pad in the map, Fuel Depot. *In Act 1, of Gears of War, one of the King Raven helicopters is shot down by an unknown weapon. The weapon that is fired cannot be seen at the source, but the projectile looks almost like a laser particle beam. =Notable Ravens= *KR Three-Six makes several appearances during Gears of War 2, mostly helping out Delta such as in Act 1 during the hospital, and during the "Roadblocks" chapter, as well as during Act 5. It is unknown if KR-36 was shot down or not, but most likely it was not. The pilot is female, but is not specifically identified in the game. *KR Two-Five shot down over East Barricade Academy during the Lightmass Offensive. *KR One-Eight *KR Four-One *KR One-Nine *KR Five-Nine *KR Four-Nine *KR Three-Two *KR Six-Four transports Delta Squad several times during the Lightmass Offensive, including evacuating Marcus and Dom from Jacinto Maximum Security Prison and later transporting them to East Barricade Academy. =References= Category:Vehicles